Starter Packs

Complete your collection with these curated titles, grouped at a special discount.

Shop Now
Piano Classics

Godowsky: Transcriptions

$21.99

Details

Composer
Leopold Godowsky
Artist
Emanuele Delucchi
Format
CD
Label
Piano Classics
Released
Jan 09, 2026
Catalog #
PCL10329
UPC
5029365103299

About

'Only top-flight virtuosos need apply. Emanuele Delucchi is one of them... in a class of his own' (Gramophone). This is Delucchi's fourth album dedicated to the pianistic art of Leopold Godowsky. It's theme is counterpoint, and the possibilities of polyphony at the piano, which Godowsky expanded beyond previously conceived limitations. The album opens with Godowsky's magnificent transcription of the Sonata for Solo Violin BWV1001 by Bach. Counterbalancing the Sonata, the album closes with the serene Andante from the Solo Sonata BWV1003. In 1929, Godowsky composed his own Prelude and Fugue on the Theme B-A-C-H as one of a series of pieces for the left hand: a formidable demonstration of technical and compositional ingenuity. 'Imagine a real fugue in three voices,' he wrote to his friends, 'inversions, contractions, pedal points and all kind of devices on B-A-C-H for one hand!' Yet the Fugue itself is far from austere but rather upbeat in mood, no less a joyful celebration of the piano and it's possibilities than the rest of the works here. Godowsky based the first of his Symphonic Metamorphoses on themes of Johann Strauss on the Kunstlerleben waltz. This piece competes with his contrapuntal paraphrase on Weber's Invitation to the Dance (dedicated to Busoni, no less) as perhaps the most complex pieces ever written for the piano on dance themes. As on his previous Godowsky albums, all of them eliciting an enthusiastic critical reception, Delucchi has chosen to record these works on a piano from Godowsky's own time, lending both warm colours and a period flavour to his playing. He has chosen a Steinway piano from 1879 with a warm and poetic sound, well fitted to evoke the mood of fin-de-siecle Vienna, and to unfold the intricate polyphony of a piano genius. Delucchi also contributes his own, succinct and informed booklet essay on the history and context of these pieces.

Tracklist 10 tracks

  1. 1 I. Fantasia: Adagio - Maestoso 05:00
    Track
    1
    Title
    I. Fantasia: Adagio - Maestoso
    Duration
    05:00
    Composer
    Leopold Godowsky
    Performer
    Emanuele Delucchi
  2. 2 II. Fuga: Allegro con brio 04:29
    Track
    2
    Title
    II. Fuga: Allegro con brio
    Duration
    04:29
    Composer
    Leopold Godowsky
    Performer
    Emanuele Delucchi
  3. 3 III. Siciliana: Andante espressivo 03:31
    Track
    3
    Title
    III. Siciliana: Andante espressivo
    Duration
    03:31
    Composer
    Leopold Godowsky
    Performer
    Emanuele Delucchi
  4. 4 IV. Finale: Presto - Vivace, con fuoco 03:42
    Track
    4
    Title
    IV. Finale: Presto - Vivace, con fuoco
    Duration
    03:42
    Composer
    Leopold Godowsky
    Performer
    Emanuele Delucchi
  5. 5 I. Allegro moderato 03:17
    Track
    5
    Title
    I. Allegro moderato
    Duration
    03:17
    Composer
    Leopold Godowsky
    Performer
    Emanuele Delucchi
  6. 6 II. Allegro energico 02:18
    Track
    6
    Title
    II. Allegro energico
    Duration
    02:18
    Composer
    Leopold Godowsky
    Performer
    Emanuele Delucchi
  7. 7 Chopin - Waltz No. 6 in D-Flat Major, Op. 64, No. 1 02:23
    Track
    7
    Title
    Chopin - Waltz No. 6 in D-Flat Major, Op. 64, No. 1
    Duration
    02:23
    Composer
    Leopold Godowsky
    Performer
    Emanuele Delucchi
  8. 8 Weber - Aufforderung zum Tanze (Invitation to the Dance) 11:10
    Track
    8
    Title
    Weber - Aufforderung zum Tanze (Invitation to the Dance)
    Duration
    11:10
    Composer
    Leopold Godowsky
    Performer
    Emanuele Delucchi
  9. 9 3 Symphonische Metamorphosen Johann Strauss'scher Themen: No. 1. Kunstlerleben 14:18
    Track
    9
    Title
    3 Symphonische Metamorphosen Johann Strauss'scher Themen: No. 1. Kunstlerleben
    Duration
    14:18
    Composer
    Leopold Godowsky
    Performer
    Emanuele Delucchi
  10. 10 J.S. Bach - Violin Sonata No. 2 in A Minor, BWV 1003: III. Aria: Andante - Molto espressivo e cantabile 05:14
    Track
    10
    Title
    J.S. Bach - Violin Sonata No. 2 in A Minor, BWV 1003: III. Aria: Andante - Molto espressivo e cantabile
    Duration
    05:14
    Composer
    Leopold Godowsky
    Performer
    Emanuele Delucchi